you're safe with me
by be-my-guardian-angel
Summary: "Once he caught his breath Gamora coughed from underneath him, as if she were doing the same. His hand met her cheek, caressing it gently as her eyes finally fluttered open. Peter swallowed the lump in his throat, thankful that he'd gotten to see those beautiful eyes one last time." / Or, my take on when Peter saves Gamora's life. Starmora oneshot.


**Just watched this movie with the family and I adored it. Peter and Gamora's chemistry was really well thought out and even though they didn't kiss, you could tell he really cares about her whether it's just as a friend or more. So this little oneshot is my take on my favorite scene, when Peter saved Gamora. Enjoy and please review!  
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><p>"Quill, come on. Her body mod might keep her alive for a couple seconds, but there's nothing we can do for her. These pods aren't meant to be out here. In a second, we're going to be in the same boat."<p>

Peter heard Rocket, but he definitely wasn't listening to him. He was vaguely aware of the raccoon booting up his pod and heading back in the direction they came.

But instead of following him, which was probably the best thing to do, Peter found that his eyes were glued to the unmoving form of Gamora, suspended in mid-air amongst small and large pieces of debris. His chest tightened as he saw her body gradually begin to be covered in light colored blotches all over her skin. Was she slowly deteriorating? Were her cells going to disintegrate and be spread across the surface of Knowhere? A chill ran through his spine as he tried to blot that possibility from his head. It was his fault that she was in this mess in the first place. If she died on his watch…

He didn't want to think about the pain she was no doubt in, despite being unconscious. But as much as he hated to admit it, Rocket was right—there _was_ nothing that could be done about it—but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

Peter knew one thing: he needed her. And even though she may not have been the kindest to him up to this point, he knew she needed him just as much. She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her.

"Oh, _damn it_."

Heaving a sigh, he unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed a button on the control panel next to him, speaking loudly into it while still keeping his eyes on Gamora's still figure. "Youndu! _Youndu!_ This is Quill. My coordinates are 227K324…"

"Quill? Quill, what are you doing?!" Once again Rocket was trying to dissuade him from doing what he was dead set on accomplishing, but he didn't care. He knew what had to do in order to save Gamora. "I'm just outside Knowhere." He continued speaking to Yondu, "If you're there, come get me! I'm all yours." With that he donned his mask with one hand, and unlocked the door of his pod with the other. The air hit his body with full force as he floated, but he still couldn't seem to get closer to the alien woman. Grunting in frustration, he engaged his jet-propelled shoes and thankfully the speed picked up. Rocket was yelling at him, but he honestly couldn't care less.

When he finally reached Gamora the sight of her up close made his stomach churn. Was she dead already? He couldn't tell. His strong arms held her gently, almost like he might hold a baby. She looked so fragile, so weak. And those words didn't seem to fit her.

"Quill, don't be ridiculous! Get back in your pod!" Rocket yelled angrily, insistent upon making him realize that there was nothing more to be done. Was he insane? "You can't fit two people in there. You're gonna die!"

Peter noticed that his skin was starting to look like Gamora's, and it made him feel sick. But even if he died out here, it'd be better than her. He didn't feel much pain yet, but wasn't sure if he wanted to wait around to see if any came.

Slowly he worked off the mask connector from around his ear, Rocket's voice getting cut off in the process. With quickness he placed it around Gamora's ear and engaged the mask. He waited on pins and needles to hear the sound of her breathing filling his ears. Once it did, it was the best thing he'd heard in a very long time.

Peter suddenly felt a chill envelop every fiber of his being. He knew the life was slowly being drained from him. But it didn't matter. He gripped Gamora a little tighter, willing to face the inevitable.

His vision began to blur and his head became dizzy. Was that a light he saw in the distance? Or was it just a hallucination?

Ships began to encircle them. Slowly, Peter turned his head to see a metal hatch opening up. A split second passed, and then a beam of light engulfed them and began pulling them towards the hole. If this were enemy territory, he didn't have enough strength or willpower to resist. He was too weak to even think. The sound of her breathing was quite possibly the only thing he was able to focus on.

The light beam kept pulling them, nearly at a snail's pace in his opinion, towards the circle. After what seemed like years, the hatch opened and a whiff of steam washed over them. And then, the light was gone and he and Gamora hit the ground hard.

The first thing he did was disengage the mask as the feeling began to come back into his body. Gasping for breath, he shuddered as he realized just how close to death he'd been. How close to death they both had been. But he didn't care about himself right now.

Once he caught his breath Gamora coughed from underneath him, as if she were doing the same. His hand met her cheek, caressing it gently as her eyes finally fluttered open. Peter swallowed the lump in his throat, thankful that he'd gotten to see those beautiful eyes one last time.

"Quill?" She asked breathlessly, hand gripping the lapel of his jacket tightly as she stared up at him. "What happened?"

"I saw you out there…" He began in a whisper, still unsure of whether or not they were safe. Questions danced in Gamora's eyes but she didn't say anything. "And I don't know what came over me…but I couldn't let you die."

She sighed and seemed to already have something on her mind as if she hadn't just almost died out there. "Quill, where's the—"

"No, wait, hear me out." He interrupted quickly, knowing she needed to be made away of the Orb missing but also wanting to tell her how he felt. "Look, I know we haven't exactly been the best of friends throughout this whole thing, but that doesn't matter now. What happened back there? I've never done anything like that before, Gamora. And I've especially never done that for _anyone_ else."

"Then why did you do it?" She asked quietly.

Peter blinked once, twice. Heart thudding against his chest, with no further warning, he lowered his head and swiftly connected their lips and kissed her gently. He could feel her tense slightly from beneath him but she soon relaxed and kissed back, moving her hand to grip his that was still on her cheek,

Time seemed to move slowly but neither Peter nor Gamora found himself or herself complaining even though the tender display only lasted for a few seconds.

Peter opened his eyes and looked down at her. Had he made the right decision? Was she really going to kill him after that? "That's why."

"That's…a good reason." The woman replied quietly.

Peter let out a nervous laugh, happy that going out on a limb had finally worked for once. He just hoped with everything inside of him that nothing would come to interrupt this moment...

"But where's the Orb?"

_So much for that._

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><p><strong>Please review! :) I'd love to know what you thought. Plus, I love anything that has to do with Marvel and this was my first attempt at something in the MCU. Hope you liked.<strong>

**-aria**


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